What is the difference between IMPLICATE & INFERENCE?

Question

This is needed for Critical Thinking AS exam

Answer 1

Your question should be 'What is the difference between imply and infer?'

A lot of people get them mixed up.

The speaker implies (or hints at, without actually saying) something.
The listener infers (or comes to a conclusion about what the speaker means).

The noun from 'imply' is 'implication'.
The noun from 'infer' is 'inference'.

"Implicate" means to involve, e.g. He tried to implicate his friend in the robbery.

Answer 2

Implication And Inference

Answer 3

Maybe you mean the difference between imply and infer (or implication and inference, which is the same thing)?

To imply is to suggest without stating; an implication is something suggested but not stated: He implied that I was an idiot for leaving my keys in the car, but he didn't actually say so.

To infer is to come to a conclusion about something which is unstated; an inference is such a conclusion: I inferred that he thought I was idiot for leaving my keys in the car, though he didn't actually say so.

Notice how the two terms work in opposite directions, so to speak. If you imply something, it goes OUT from you to the world; if you infer something, it goes from the outer world IN to you. I found it easier to remember the difference when I started visualizing the usage of these terms in this way. That is, whenever I saw the word imply, I visualized something going OUT from the subject of the verb; whenever I saw the word infer, I visualized something going IN to the subject of the verb.

These are not formal definitions, just the way I understand the terms.

PS Implicate is not a synonym for imply, though both are verbs (though implicate can be used as an adjective). Nor is implication normally used as the noun form of implicate, as far as I know.

Answer 4

Implicate is a verb. Inference is a noun.

Sometimes the correct answer is the most obvious. Remember - this is for critical thinking...

Answer 5

Try these news stories, and judge the difference from the context:

1 - "Botnet IMPLICATED in click fraud scam "

2 - "The clear INFERENCE is that the Earth also would have experienced a similar frequency of impacts over the same period ..."

You should find that they are dramatically different; one is about 'blame' and the other is about 'reasoning'.

Good luck with the course; I'm assuming, on a Sunday, that you don't actually mean "exam" (if you did, then this question would be cheating!).

Remember : ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES !

Answer 6

Implicate is to involve someone/thing and infer is to hint at.